May 12, 1964 - The Grammy award ceremonies were held tonight in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In New York, they took place in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria before an audience of 700, the largest such local gathering in the history of the awards.
In the popular field, the “record of the year” was Henry Mancini’s album “The Days of Wine and Roses” (Victor), and the title song was named “song of the year.” An album by Barbra Streisand, “The Barbra Streisand Album” (Columbia) was voted the best female vocal performance. The best vocal performance for male singer went to Jack Jones’s “Wives and Lovers” (Kapp).
The best jazz recording award for small groups went to Bill Evans for “Conversations with Myself” (Verve), for large groups to “Woody Herman’s Encore Album” (Philips). The best new artist of 1963 was the ensemble called the Swingle Singles, which records for Philips. In the spoken-word category, Columbia’s recording of Edward Albee’s play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” was a winner.
The London Records recording of Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem” was cited as the “album of the year” in the classical field, as the best classical choral work other than opera, and as the best classical work by a contemporary composer.
Also in the classical field, the award for best recorded performance by an orchestra went to Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra for their version of Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra,” released by RCA Victor. Victor’s recording of Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly,” with Leontyne Price in the title role and conducted by Mr. Leinsdorf, won the opera award.
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